Aviation

20-Year Aviation System Plan

Our aviation system is served by a diverse mixture of airports ranging in size from small back-country airports to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the state's busiest commercial airport. The system is comprised of public use airports, both publicly and privately owned, which are conveniently located to meet a full range of transportation needs for commercial, business, personal, recreation, training and medical emergencies.

With significant change expected in coming years, WSDOT Aviation conducts long-term planning to face the challenge of maintaining and improving our aviation system for the future. There is a growing recognition that Washington’s network of 135 public use airports needs to be managed as an integrated system, to more strategically invest the public resources necessary to preserve future aviation capacity. It is the state’s role to guide development of a coherent statewide strategy to ensure that adequate aviation capacity exists to accommodate predicted growth.